Which ruined farmhouse is said to have inspired 'Wuthering Heights'?
Answer
Top Withens
The ruined farmhouse said to have inspired Wuthering Heights is Top Withens.
Top Withens, also spelled Top Withins, is a ruined farmhouse on the exposed moors near Haworth in West Yorkshire. Its remote setting and association with Emily Brontë's novel have made it one of the most famous literary landmarks connected with the Brontë family.
The farmhouse is popularly linked with the Earnshaw home in Wuthering Heights, the isolated house where much of the novel's conflict begins. However, the connection concerns the location and atmosphere more than the building's appearance. A plaque installed by the Brontë Society explains that the complete farmhouse bore little resemblance to the house described in the novel, though its moorland situation may have influenced Emily's imagination.
Top Withens stands about 1,377 feet, or 420 metres, above sea level and is now a destination for walkers following the Brontë Way and Pennine Way. Ponden Hall and Wycoller Hall are also sometimes proposed as literary inspirations, but Top Withens is the standard answer to this quiz question.